Second Life is an ever evolving place and it is hard to keep track of all the changes. I happened to bump into a Titanic exhibition that was at The Vordun gallery. Now normally such things pass by unnoticed, but there are a few reasons I wanted to post the exhibition and related things here.

One thing is the Vordun gallery itself. Next to the Titanic exhibition there are the exhibitions in the gallery itself. These were interesting because the Vordun gives you a hud that has a voice tell you something about the picture. Below is an example.

A tale within a tale: audio tracts.

more Vordun.

This picture is called the Allegory of Fortune. There is a story behind it. The picture caused a row at the time and it artist had to be saved from retribution. I won’t go into details here. Either go to the gallery or look it up. The main reason I mention it here is that by using this hud the Vordun created an extra level of narrative. A story within a story. My suggestion would be this. Go and watch the pictures without activating the hud. Make up whatever you think they are telling, then use the hud to hear the story behind the picture.
But maybe, perhaps, you might not want to because maybe the story you got in your head is the better one. Who knows.

A night to remember.

A night to remember is the main exhibition for the Titanic disaster. I like the detailed exhibit as the maker used mesh to its fullest. He also used various means to convey the tale. It is a small exhibit, but a likable one that tries to push the envelope. I still had something to moan about of course.I would have wished it was embedded in a broader tale. Not a personal one alone, but one that went to trace what impact it had in general and most of all, the allegorical sign. The Titanic was perhaps the pinnacle of shipping prior to WW 1. It was part of the very upbeat times prior to the Great War called the Belle Epoque marked by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity and technological, scientific and cultural innovations. Its demise symbolizes the demise of that time with its good things, but also with its bad things(class distinction for instance). If you like to read something about that try Stefan Zweig, “The world of yesterday”. I have to admit, I have never read anything by him, but a friend of mine recommends him.

The captain of the Titanic

A partial view of the exhibit.

The iceberg and the guy who spotted it.

The guy who made the exhibit.

The Titanic exhibit is in the North Wing, in the south wing is something completely different. It is art by Celeste Forwzy. I like it that the gallery is not themed to one thing.

Modern art: Celeste Forwzy

Art by Celeste Forwzy.

Celeste also has a shop.

Fancy Decor

On the same sim there is also a shop called Fancy Decor. It is a neat shop with mesh things that are really neat made by Jake Vordun.

Altar piece.

This is one example of the neat things you can get. It is not a big store. But it has some neat things. Everything is made out of mesh, so you won’t have to worry too much about your prim allowances.

This is one called Heledar by Wheeler. I can’t quite say what is going on and the pose seems somewhat strange, but the dress and the lack of colors sort of work for me. A lady who descended that stairs probably to wait for a car to pick her up or perhaps to drop someone off.

Unknown by Wheeler

A magic strange picture that invokes a strange an eerie atmosphere.

Watchers by Lady Velvet Rose

I liked this picture, because it reminded me a vacation of Ireland. No story, but well a familiar sensation. That is what a picture can do to you: invoke a feeling or sensation.

One of the things I like about Second Life is that people show their works there. I try to have a look at them whenever possible to learn about making imagery. One day I ran into the Bohemian Eclectic Gallery (BEG For Short). This gallery interested me because it showed a wide diversity of pictures all made in or with the aid of second life. Since I use Second Life to make my pictures, this of course interested me.
I normally don’t review art as I don’t want to end up in some kind of pointless discussion. However I wanted to post a few paintings here and discuss them because these paintings have a kind of story behind them.
For me that makes such paintings interesting, because I am interested in combining images with stories.

The rape of liberty by Meryll Panthar

The first picture is called The rape of liberty made by Meryll Panthar. I send a mail to Merryl Panthar as I think an arists should at least have an idea of what I am writing about them. She pointed out that I made an error by laying blame with deviantart (for which I am sorry). The blame goes to Koinup. The story is that Koinup seemed to have one day decided to ban male nudes while at the same time allowing female nudes. As an act of protest she made the above picture. It was made in three hours. Not bad 😛

Personally I think the above image is not all that shocking either. I can imagine a much more deviant ways of representing a rape.

The interesting thing for me is that it is made with Second Life and smartly avoids to be called a total nude because crucial parts are covered. I like the way it is made and the feeling about the painting. It also reminds me that there is a certain breed of people in the world who like ‘power’ for it’s own sake and these people strive to get positions where they can exercise power. They of course will defend their behavior by pointing out that rules (we all made) have to be followed (the way they want it). But you know what they really are when they do so with an overwhelming sense of glee or self-righteousness. And don’t think that people who like power are automatically opposed to liberty. In fact people who like power might be the greatest supporters of liberty, because they don’t really care for what cause power is used as long as it is exercised: exercised by them.

The interesting about this picture is also that it shows a few limitations of Second Life. The cloth is going through avatar, the avatar is a 3d design made by Linden and has certain unnatural aspects, such as the shoulders. In addition the part where the legs join the body has a clear line where you would expect the flesh to fold or crumple.

The lighting combined with the shadows is well done and makes for half the mood. The other is the little rusty bloody look.